Personal Injury
Which include the following case types:
- Automobile Accidents
- Nursing Home Negligence
- Slip and Fall Injury
- Defective Product Injury
- Exposure to Toxic Material
- Medical Malpractice
- Wrongful Death
- Drug Injury
- Job Injury caused by another
When you or your property have suffered injury, our lawyers will fight hard for all the compensation you are entitled under the law. Furthermore, when the injury is not your fault, you are legally entitled to receive compensation for your medical bills and your pain and suffering.
When another party injures a person, the party is often unwilling to accept responsibility and offer a settlement. Or if they do offer a settlement, the amount is usually in their legal and financial best interest. Furthermore, what might seem like a generous settlement could be a substantially smaller amount as compared to what you would receive with a personal injury attorney acting on your behalf.
Consulting with a Lawyer
When you consult with a personal injury lawyer, you will provide details about your accident and grant the lawyer access to your medical records that pertain to the accident. A personal injury lawyer will usually treat your case as if it was going to trial for two reasons: to present your case in a way that secures you the best settlement figure and to secure you the best court award if your case goes to trial. If your case remains in dispute and goes to trial, your attorney will be in a strong position if your case has been prepared for trial from the beginning.
Filing a Personal Injury Claim
Personal injury claims must be filed within a certain period of time after the occurrence of an accident. Therefore, it is important to contact an attorney soon after your accident. If an attorney feels that there is insufficient time to handle the necessary pre-filing work and develop your case in a compelling way, they may choose not to accept your case. Contacting an attorney immediately following your accident also allows you to communicate the details of the accident while they are fresh in your mind.
After taking your case, your attorney will file a summons and a complaint with the Court and pay the necessary filing fee. A copy of these papers must be served directly on the individual that you intend to sue. If you are suing a corporation, the copies must be served on the appropriate representative of the corporation.
Discovery
After the defendant is aware that they are being sued, both parties begin the “discovery” process by requesting documents and information from each other, including lists of questions known as interrogatories, medical records, physicians’ reports and court depositions. It is common for a physician acting on behalf of the defendant to examine you during the discovery process. The discovery process can takes months or years, depending on the nature of your case.
Negotiating a Settlement
Near the end of the discovery phase, both parties will examine their individual liability in the occurrence of the injury. If the defendant accepts liability for the injury claim, the parties then begin negotiating a settlement figure. If the case remains unsettled at the conclusion of the discovery phase, it then goes to trial.
Proceeding to Trial
The court will instruct both parties on any issues that they should attend to before the trial begins, such as serving certain documents and choosing between a trial by jury and a trial by judge. When the trial commences, the Court will hear evidence from witnesses and consider written documentation. When the trial concludes, a judgment will be given. If the claimant is successful but the defendant refuses to pay, the claimant can take steps with the Court to enforce the judgment.
